A lecture by Professor Anthony Grafton (Princeton University).

Ecclesiastical history began in the 1550s, when the Lutheran Matthias Flacius Illyricus organized
a collaborative century-by-century history of Christianity. This confessional project never
reached completion, and its thick volumes met with severe criticism from co-religionists as well
as Catholics. Nonetheless, it provided a new model for the study of the past, inspiring a
revolution in historiography. That’s the standard story. It’s not wrong: Flacius did many original
things: for example, writing and submitting grant proposals. But it’s radically incomplete. This
lecture reinterprets Flacius’s project and reexamines its impact.

Sponsored by CMRS-CEGS and the European Colloquium of the Department of History.

5:00 pm PST in Royce 314 and live on Zoom.

Register to attend either onsite or online.